What is the difference between artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)? AI is an umbrella term to describe a branch of computer science that deals with the simulation of intelligent (human) behavior. Machine learning is a subset and currently the most common type of AI. We encounter it, consciously or unconsciously, in our every the average person will encounter.

Amber MacArthur posted in one of her recent newsletters some examples of AI & ML. Any phone "assistant" (such as Apple's iPhone assistant Siri, works because it relies on huge amounts of data, but its development is based on machine-learning technology. These machines "learn" over time based on our interactions with them. This happens without being programmed to say or do new things.

It takes more than data for people and machines to learn. It requires being able to recognize patterns in that data and learning from them, being able to draw inferences or make predictions without being explicitly programmed to do so. It needs to do critical thinking.

Another AI example noted by MacArthur is SnapTravel. It is a chatbot that uses machine learning to run its "half-bot, half-human" service with its users. It uses SMS or Facebook via Messenger to work with a "bot" agent to book your hotel reservation.

During the 1960s and 70s, the technology alarm was that computers will be taking our jobs. It turned out that some jobs disappeared, but many more were created. The new technology alarm is that AI will take away jobs. And that will happen if people are "disinclined to technical skills" because they may not be able to earn a good living in a market economy. One prediction is that "as AI improves and gets cheaper, many of the jobs left for humans will be those so badly paid they are not worth replacing with a machine." Ouch.